Dinner and Drinks
by Shadowgurrl
Summary: Part of this used to be the last chapter in "Melancholy Baby" but I decided to make it into its own story. Hope you like it. Please review


THIS STORY USED TO BE CHAPTER 3 IN "MELANCHOLY BABY" BUT I REMEMBERED I DIDN'T LIKE HOW I LEFT IT AND DECIDED TO MAKE IT LONGER.

By the time the elevator got to the bottom floor, Amanda's rage at being dismissed so abruptly was gone, replaced by the aching pain of realizing that she'd been fooling herself all this time. When Lee had asked about the dress she'd worn to the New Year's Eve party, she had let herself think that maybe he'd been fishing for information about where she liked to shop, maybe planning on buying her something special… After all they'd been out together a few times in what she thought might be his idea of a date with her. Teasing her into going with him to the opera… opening up to her about his past with Dorothy and bringing her roses… She had thought maybe this was his way of letting himself feel something for her, maybe even something like she felt for him.

But now, she couldn't fool herself any longer – she was always going to be the woman he just hung out with at work, or went out with when there wasn't something better available.

But Leslie… Leslie was _perfect_ for him. He'd said so himself. Leslie spoke several languages. Leslie has a Top Secret clearance and understands his job. Leslie can whip up a perfect French dinner after getting off a plane from New York where she works at the _United Nations. _Leslie had a perfect curvy figure that would fill out a dress with spaghetti straps and a slit up to there so much better than she ever could – and he hadn't even waited a day to find one and send it to her.

That's what he'd gone to do when he ditched her yesterday, she realized. He'd been dying to get away from the boring rookie work so that he could go find something sexy to take off his girlfriend later. A girlfriend with wavy dark hair and dark eyes. Just like mine.

Amanda shook her head and wiped away the tears that had come now as she got in her car. Leslie looked just like her but was so obviously better in every way – more beautiful, more intelligent, more accomplished… obviously way sexier if he wasn't even getting any sleep with her around. "It was no wonder Lee wouldn't look at me twice when he could have that" she thought. "Why would he want hamburger when he could have steak?"

She felt so stupid, sitting there alone, knowing that Lee had probably already forgotten she even existed, up there with the perfect woman in his apartment, in his arms, in his bed.

"I thought I saw something on his face today after the explosion, something that said maybe he cared about me…" she said to herself. "Who am I kidding? I was never going to be good enough for him."

She looked at herself in the car mirror and realized she couldn't go home looking like this – her mother would know she'd been crying and there would be too many questions to answer and she'd probably end up crying again. She took a deep breath and gripped the steering wheel. "If I can't be a perfect girlfriend, I can at least be a great partner." Ignoring Lee's order to go home, she pulled out of her parking space and headed for Transoceanic.

"You're probably busy tonight right? …PTA, Den mother's club… your mother's card club?"  
Amanda stopped to look at him, annoyed slightly that this was obviously what Lee really thought she did with all her time when she wasn't working. It wasn't as if he was completely wrong – she did have family obligations after all – but she knew that despite the smile, he was making fun of her.  
"No, none of those things," she said "Why?" She was pretty sure he was about to ask her for help with the rest of that spring cleaning stuff, so she was pleasantly surprised when Lee looked embarrassed and said "I thought maybe we'd have dinner tonight… …You know just the two of us… alone." She stared at him for a moment, then suddenly sure he was trying to suck up because of that fight in his hallway. "But you have that party at the Russian Embassy with Leslie."  
Lee looked even more embarrassed. "Ahhh, she won't be lonely believe me…she's working anyway."  
"Oh." Suddenly she understood. He must have had some kind of break-up with Leslie and he just didn't want to be alone for the night. Good old reliable Amanda would do just fine to fill that spot though, wouldn't she?  
"I thought maybe a nice steak, a bottle of red wine, baked potato on the side…"  
Wow, he's really selling this.  
"No shop talk."  
Amanda found herself smiling stiltedly at him. Oh that's what this is about. Leslie found out what he does and doesn't like it. He thought she was so perfect for him and it turns out she wasn't.  
"We don't do enough of that do we?"  
She took a moment to think about it. She knew he was probably sucking up because he didn't want to admit he'd been wrong about Leslie being his type, but then again, she knew she'd been stupid not to fire the gun at the bad guy when she had the chance, so maybe she should take the olive branch.  
"Not by half" she heard herself saying and tried to enjoy the happy smile he gave.

Of course you're smiling, she realized. You got what you wanted, just like you always do.

Lee stayed in the shadows, watching the happy couple across the bar. He thought Amanda might have seen him earlier when he'd first wandered into Dooley's looking for her, but now, watching her cuddled up close with her ex-husband, he realized that smile hadn't been meant for him, she'd just been happy.

Of course she was happy. Joe King looked at her like she hung the moon and from the way his hands were stroking her possessively as they danced, it was obvious he'd seen the error of his ways where his wife was concerned.

Ex wife Lee muttered to himself. You said she was stubborn and selfish and you left her behind to go after your own dreams without a look back.

And yet, it didn't look like Amanda was in an unforgiving mood. She was smiling and laughing and cuddling with Joe as if they'd never been apart.

I just saved her kids from a killer, he thought but then he stopped and thought about how Amanda probably saw it. He may have saved Jamie and Phillip but Joe had just saved whole countries from starvation. Lee might have had the brawn to punch a guy's lights out but Joe had the smarts to save the world. Of course she was happy to have him back.

He sank back into a dark booth, sipping his beer, unable to stop watching Joe King steal his woman right out from under him and laughed bitterly. Joe hadn't even needed to steal her – he'd pushed her away the moment he came up with that stupid line about two people looking to stay warm. Amanda had looked him in the eye and he'd seen the penny drop as she realized he was an emotional coward. "Not exactly" she'd mocked him and walked off.

Why hadn't he picked up where they'd left off before the gunfire? They'd huddled together on the ground for hours after that, hiding from Sacker and his gang and he hadn't done a damn thing. What if he'd given his emotions free reign and kissed her that night?

Joe pulled Amanda closer and whispered something in her ear that had her blushing and then nodding in agreement. Joe's arms circled her and then he was kissing her.

Lee growled. Kissing his Amanda! He was halfway out of his chair before he realized Amanda's hands had come up to circle Joe's neck and she was kissing him back just as avidly. He sank back in his seat as the couple pulled apart just far enough to smile then turned to leave the bar. Lee waited until they were almost out the door before he followed them. As he stepped out the door of the bar, he watched them walk arm in arm into the boarding house.

Too late, he thought, I waited too long.


End file.
